The present invention relates generally to a manually activated apparatus for timing of intervals of different length in dependence upon a characteristic of an inserted coin. In particular, the invention relates to a parking meter which is manually operated.
It is emphasized that the present invention will hereafter be described with reference to manually operated parking meters, that is parking meters on which the "purchased" time will be indicated not in automatic response to the insertion of a coin, but only if a handle or the like is operated by a user after inserting the coin. However, it is evident that the present invention is usable in other contexts also, for example in connection with coin-operated childrens' rides, coin-operated games, and the like.
Parking meters are essentially of two basic types, namely the type in which a coin is inserted and the parking meter becomes activated and automatically set to a certain time interval, as soon as the coin has been inserted, found acceptable and identified as to its value upon which the length of "purchased" time will depend. The user need do nothing more than insert the coin. The other basic type of parking meter requires that the coin be inserted and that thereafter a lever, knob, handle or the like the turned or otherwise operated by the user. In this second type of parking meter, the time which is "purchased" again depends upon the identified value of the coin, but the timer of the parking meter will not begin to operate, and timing indication will appear on the parking meter, until the user has operated the parking meter handle. As has already been indicated before, the present invention is concerned with this second type of parking meter.
As a general rule, parking meters of this type are desired to be operable not only for a single time interval, e.g. for an hour, but for different time intervals e.g. a quarter hour, a half hour and an hour, which depend upon the value of the inserted coin. Thus, the insertion of a nickel may for instance purchase a 15 minute parking time interval, the insertion of a dime may purchase a half hour parking time interval, and the insertion of a quarter may purchase a one hour parking time interval, to take one example. It is, of course, possible to use a single type of coin and to make the parking time intervals additive; for example, the parking meter could be of the type which accepts only dimes and in this case the insertion of a first dime might purchase a 15 minute parking time interval, the insertion of an addition dime might purchase an addition 15 minute parking time interval, the insertion of a third dime might purchase still another 15 minute parking time interval, and so on. Another type of parking meter utilizes different coins for different time intervals, e.g. the aforementioned nickels, dimes and quarters. In all instances, however, the nominal value of an inserted coin is determined by measuring the dimensions of the coin, since these are most readily ascertainable in mechanical parking meters.
It is desirable that such parking meters be provided with arrangements which assure that no malfunctions occur, and especially with devices which permit the setting of a time interval on the meter only if the user moves the manually operable actuating lever or the like through the entire path of travel of the same, to avoid malfunctions which might arise from only partial movement of the lever.
One type of prior-art parking meter is disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,815,601 and can be operated with different-value coins each of which will purchase a different parking-time interval. The device can be changed to accommodate it to different-value coins and to different purchased time intervals, by replacing an entire series of internal components with others, in dependence upon the desired coin value change or time interval change that is to be effected. This requires that for each different type of coin, or for each different time interval that is to be paid-for by a particular coin, different components must be insertable into this prior-art apparatus. Particularly when it is assumed that such parking meters are to be readily adjustable for widely different circumstances, given the fact that different municipalities desire to set their parking meters so that coins of identical value will purchase different time intervals, or given the fact that it may be desired to deliver the parking meter to different countries having coins of different values, it is evident that the stock-keeping requirements for the replaceable components would have to be of such exceedingly large magnitude as to make it impossible to produce and sell parking meters of this type at an economically feasible price.
Moreover, this prior-art construction utilizes, in common with other prior-art constructions of this type, the concept of having individual coin inserting slots for three or more coins of different value. Of course, this requires that the user consider the special operating instructions which must go along with a parking meter of this type. In other words, the user must be certain to select the proper coin for the proper coin slot, in order to obtain a desired parking time interval. In many coinage systems it is customary that the higher-denomination coins are made of a more valuable metal than the lower-denomination coins, and are consequently of smaller dimensions. Evidently, such a coin can be readily inserted into a larger slot intended for a lower-denomination coin. Because of the construction of the parking meter, however, the inserted higher-denomination coin will not trigger the operation of the parking meter, when it has been inserted into the wrong slot, and in consequence the user will have lost the value of this coin without receiving a corresponding parking time interval in return. Since parking meters as a rule do not have a coin-return arrangement, the value of the inserted coin will be lost to the user.
A further prior-art parking meter is disclosed in German Pat. No. 1,474,749. This device, also, has three slots of different dimensions which can each accept a coin of different value. Interiorly, the device is provided with three diameter-testing arrangements, one each for testing a coin inserted through a particular one of the three slots. The testing of the coin diameters is carried out by cooperation of a plurality of arms or pawls which are formed with recesses of different depth in correspondence with the different coin diameters to be tested, located opposite to corresponding projections adjacent the respective coin inlet slot. The arrangement for testing the coin diameter is quite complicated. While the device can be re-adjusted for coins of different values, this requires the replacement of a number of cooperating components, which is difficult and requires that a large number of replacement components be kept in stock and available. Moreover, the possibility that a coin might be lost due to insertion into the wrong slot, without the user gaining the parking time for which he intended to pay, is not solved with this arrangement either.